The Piece That Wouldn't Fit
by HappyLeifEricsonDay
Summary: This story takes place 3-4 years after the last episode. Mugen comes up on a town by chance in his solitary travels, and is dragged into something he never dreamed would happen to him again. Rated M for explicit language and mature content (no sex).
1. Here again

Hi guys! For those of you who know me/my stories, you probably weren't expecting me to jump back in the game with a Samurai Champloo story, of all things. But what can I say? I fucking love this show..

Fair warning, this story is told entirely from Mugen's perspective. It's not pointless fluff, it's my attempt at good writing. I wanted to tell the story I think really could have happened after the end of the series, in line with the character's personalities and their histories together. Note, if you haven't seen the _Elegy of Entrapment_ episodes (21 & 22) then you might have a bit of trouble understanding what's going on in their heads.

That said, please enjoy! Obligatory: P_lease review, yo. I don't know if anyone even remembers this show anymore...  
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There was only one bar in this sorry town. He found his way there easily, back-tracing the paths of half-asleep drunks wandering home to their families. Midnight had gone by some time ago judging by the hazy glow of the moon behind the clouds, low down near the black mountain silhouette that looked flat like paper pasted under the half formed clouds.

From up on the northern mountain path, Mugen had seen the town lights and felt a rush of excitement. He hadn't seen a city in weeks, not on that lonely winding road through the valley, down and up and down and up again as he passed through the mountain range. From there the town had looked a lot bigger. He should've known better. Probably no more than three hundred people lived here. Only one bar… _What twats._ What a waste of energy racing down here. The worst part was in a town like this there was no way there'd be a brothel anywhere. All the broads were stuck up in backwater small towns. All his hopes of having some hot thing warming the sheets for the first time in weeks evaporated.

The prospect of tonight seemed achingly boring, especially when he saw the sad excuse for a bar. It was dimly lit and small. He could touch the short roof if he tried. But it seemed to still be packed for such a late hour. _S'pose it makes sense_, he thought, seeing as these sad sacks had nowhere else to go for entertainment on a Saturday night.

Usually Mugen's entrance into a room wouldn't fail to turn a few heads. But nobody batted an eye at him as he plopped himself on a stool at the bar, the sheath of his sword clattering noisily against the wooden chair. Maybe these people were used to travelers and samurai passing through, since the mountain pass led this way. The bartender was an older one, not flat out ugly but not too pleasing on the eyes. The men at the bar cat called at her anyway, the pigs. It didn't seem like any of the girls at the various tables were much to look at at all, he decided as he glanced lazily about the room. He waved as the bartender walked past him. "Bring me whatever," he shrugged.

Her eyes glinted at him as she came back with a glass of dark golden beer. "You the solemn quiet type?" she remarked coyly. She was about to start on that flirty shit waitresses like to whip out to get better tips. _You're barkin' up the wrong tree babe. _He smirked at her and downed the entire glass without breaking eye contact. He set it down before her, silently requesting another.

"What, a samurai cut out your tongue?" she laughed, refilling his glass.

"Ha, most people wish," he replied, taking his drink back.

"Of course. You samurai-type always have the biggest traps. Someone oughta pass a law against samurai speaking to one another. It always ends up with someone dead after one makes a quip about the other's mother. I've had to kick all kinds oughta here, some half-dead."

"Ah, don't get your panties in a twist lady, I ain't here to make trouble." He slammed his empty glass in front of her once more.

"That's what they all say, son," she said with a wink as she left him a third glass and went away to help some other customer.

He leaned back in his chair, stretching out his legs. His muscles ached a bit seeing as he'd been walking since sunup, but he never really gave a rat's ass about being sore. You weren't really a man if you weren't dirt tired at the end of the day. He slyly checked out all the other bar patrons down the line from behind. Most were aged men, in varying states of decay. Clearly farmers, shop-owners, your run-of-the-mill small town folk. A few fairly decent looking women sat there too, but they were all talking to some guy, clearly none had come alone. _Ah, hell. There goes the rest of my hopes._ One slim girl down near the end laughed at something the older woman next to her was whispering in her ear. Her body was pretty enticing, wrapped like a present in decorated blue silk, but he couldn't see her face through that damn old lady talking to her. For all he knew she had an ogre face attached. The man on the other side of blue-silk chick leaned over her, planting a drunken kiss on the old lady's cheek. Mugen wondered if that girl was their daughter or friend or something, at any rate she seemed to be the only girl here who wasn't hanging off some other guy's arm. Well, there was nothing else for it then. He didn't wanna strike out on his only chance at action in town so he decided to play it gentleman-like this time, instead of coming on as bluntly as he normally chose to. Waving over the bartender, he told her with a smirk to drop a glass of wine by the chick in the blue silk kimono, and he dropped some coins on the counter for the drinks he'd bought so far. She winked at him and followed orders.

He could hear her reaction from the other end of the bar. He pretended not to listen and instead gulped a bit of his own drink. There were only a few other conversations going on between the people seated at the bar. "What do you mean someone ordered me a drink?" she asked the bartender, her words a little slurred. Clearly a bit drunk already. That couldn't hurt his chances. "Which one of you asshats is trying to hit on me?" she said, though she didn't seem to realize no one else at the bar top was listening.

"Weren't any of the regulars," the bartender responded as she rinsed some glasses at the sink in front of that girl.

"Oh?" answered the girl sarcastically, with the characteristic drawl of any girl who's had a few. "Then who?"

_My cue._ He pushed his stool back and ambled over there. He came up as the bartender was answering her. "Some samurai passing through town. Not worth your time if you ask me," she finished, grinning directly at Mugen as he came up behind the girl. Her sexy attire made it look like she was all put-together, but now that he was up close he could see her brown hair wasn't done up fancy like he'd thought, but was knotted together messily on top of her head, and there was actually a leaf in it. He nearly laughed. So much for finding a fine lady in this town. But her body still looked sweet up close so he kept at it.

"I'll be the judge of that," the girl replied to her bartender sassily, taking a sip out of the full glass in front of her.

Mugen laid his left hand on her left shoulder and leaned in towards the right side of her face. "I just thought a fine girl like you deserved to drink the best wine in the house," he said in a low gravelly voice. It was his picking-up-girls voice he reserved for times like this. Man, bitches loved that voice.

"I can pay for my own drinks," she slurred, without turning to look at him. "I don't know what makes men think a free drink will just make a girl instantly spread her legs. Every time someone new comes down from the mountains it's the same thing."

"It's just a free drink, girl. Lighten up. Jeez, you'd think I'd tried to grab at you or something." She made a scoffing noise and took another swig. He took that as a good sign. She hadn't shoved his arm off her shoulder at least. "Hey, your voice sounds real familiar to me, girl." _Even through your slight slurs, _he thought. "We ever met before?"

"It's not impossible," she admitted, both hands resting around her glass. "I've travelled an awful lot. Met more samurai than you'd believe." Damn, this bitch still wouldn't turn around and look at him. She was one stubborn woman.

"Probably never met one _half_ as awesome as me," he said cockily. He was still leaned in by her ear. He was itching for her to turn toward him. This hard-to-get game was wearing on his nerves. He wanted to see her damn face already.

To his surprise, she laughed at his remark. "Honey, don't even try that with me. I've seen some of the best swordsmen in the world so I doubt there's anything you could do to impress me."

"_Try me."_

She laughed again, this time with evident mirth instead of in a mocking way. Now he heard in her bubbly voice an unmistakable familiarity, which hadn't been in immediate evidence before. "You know, you sound-" she began to say as she turned toward him, but then she stopped short. Her eyes widened as Mugen's arm slipped off her shoulder in disbelief. "_Mugen?" _she cried in disbelief.

"Holy shit," Mugen said out loud. It was the only thing he could think to say. He felt like he had been slapped in the face.

"Mugen what are you doing here?" Fuu said, standing up abruptly. "And what are you doing trying to hit on me!"

Mugen scratched his head thoughtfully, and helped himself to a taste of her wine. He felt he needed it. _To think how much I paid for this stupid house wine_. "I had no clue it was you, girly. Maybe you shouldn't wear such provocative clothing."

Her face reddened. "Oh shut it. My clothing isn't provocative you dickwad. You really didn't even _recognize_ me?"

"I did once you finally turned around. What, are you serious? You didn't have this rockin' body last time we saw each other. How could I have possibly known it was you? You uh.. you grew a bit since I last saw ya." Her facial expression got angrier somehow, even though he'd thought that body compliment would pacify her. He'd forgotten of course that Fuu was impossible to pacify.

She folded her arms. "Did you come here just to taunt me like old times?" she said scathingly. "I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Why don't you leave me alone now?"

"Don't flatter yourself." He drained the rest of her drink for her and slammed it back down. The two people from either side of Fuu were staring openly at them, he saw, but apparently they were going to let Fuu handle it herself. Some friends. "I was just passing through. I never would have guessed you were here."

Her expression passed from angry to something else. "Oh," she said quietly. It was plain that she was starting to regret lashing out at him, but he was already irritated. Two seconds in her presence and he was already remembering why he used to tear his hair out over her.

"Anyway," he sneered, "I'll leave you with your friends." He shot a dagger look at the old man on her other side, who paled instantly. He then smiled sneeringly at Fuu, pinching her cheek condescendingly for the best effect. "Don't get too crazy drunk, you're already oozing booze out every pore. Might wake up next to any stinking brute if you're not careful, chick." He slapped a few more coins on the counter in front of the shocked bartender and left the bar haughtily.

It didn't take long. Fuu came stumbling out of the bar's door when he was only a few steps away. "_Mugen,"_ she was saying, "Mugen stop."

He paused reluctantly, unsure why he was listening to this bitch. He was mostly irritated at the fact that he had been cheated out of his one night stand because it turned out to be _her, of all people. _Out of everyone in the world he'd said goodbye to, she was the one he'd really never dreamed he'd be saying hello to again. And yet there she was when he turned around, standing uncertainly in the washed yellow light of the doorway.

"Mugen, I'm sorry. Just forget what I said before." She pushed a few loose strands of hair out of her face. "I'm a little drunk if you haven't noticed." She truly must be; it wasn't like her at all to apologize so quickly. Or maybe she just wasn't as freakishly immature and argumentative as she used to be, though he found that hard to imagine. For arguments sake, because he knew the fight was pretty much already over, he decided to just go with it.

"I noticed," he said, smirking. "Not so righteous and innocent as you were back in the day, huh girlie?"

"Don't start," she said, her voice rising again. "I'm trying to be _nice_ here. Aren't you happy to see me at all?"

"Chill your jets," he replied coolly. "I just never expected to see you here, that's all... Hey, any inns in this shit town, anyway?"

She fell into step by him as he turned to peer down the street at the darkened shop windows, walking a few feet away. "I could say the same, you know," she responded. "And sadly, there are none. You'd think we'd have one, but truthfully they don't want to invite in the travelers. They don't say so but I can tell. They don't like strangers much here."

"Well that's just great." He had to stabilize Fuu for a moment by grabbing her elbow as she tripped on a rock in the street. "You're no good at walking while drunk," he laughed.

"This is coming from the man who used to stumble in at all hours, tripping over everything and making every noise humanly possible."

"That's only in the dark," Mugen defended. "If I can see, I'm an _agile cat_." She rolled her eyes. "You don't see me trippin over my own feet, do ya?" It was true, he never fell on his face. He was an expert at being drunk. "Hell, I could kill a guy with both hands tied behind my back while I was completely shit-faced. I've done it more than once."

"Oh, Mugen." He couldn't tell what she meant when she said that. But she didn't say anything else for a minute. Then suddenly she perked up. "You know what, why don't you stay with me?" Before he could say yes, she blathered on, "I won't take a no, I know you don't have anywhere else to stay. It'll be like old times. Don't worry, I have my own place! Bet you haven't slept in a bed in _weeks._ You can have mine, I'll sleep on the couch. Trust me, I know how great a bed feels after weeks of sleeping on dirt and pine needles."

He literally did not have a chance to agree before she was sweeping him away down a narrow side street, up a small grassy hill toward a larger house with a huge fenced off yard full of dark flowers, all closed to the cool night air.

"No, not the big house," she said matter-of-factly. "Yeah right. I'm their gardener, it's those two I was at the bar with. I live in this uh- little cottage just beyond their property so I can care for their plants. Housing comes free with my job. Ha, how brilliant is that?" She was beaming at the little house that came up before them, like it was the most beautiful house ever.

Mugen shrugged in response to her. _Why is it that drunk girls talk so much? _She just rolled her eyes more and ushered him inside. She tried to get a fire going in the fireplace, but she was apparently too drunk to do that. She kept breaking the matches in half trying to light them. Mugen couldn't help but laugh at her. "I don't see you helping," she griped.

"It's more entertaining this way," he said, putting a hit of mockery in his tone. "I've never gotten to see you this drunk before. It's a riot."

"Oh, can it," she said, throwing the matches down throwing her arms up in defeat. "If you want a fire you can.. uh, you can start it. Otherwise, I think I'm… think I'm uh.. going to bed. Ugh. My head is starting to swim a bit. We can catch up.. in .. the _morning_." The word 'morning' was warped by her sudden yawn.

Mugen chuckled even harder. _Shoulda known she couldn't hold her booze._ He was still standing in the doorway of the small one-room house, so he made his way over to the bed and sat down gingerly. He could really feel that ache now, deep in every muscle in his legs. The mattress was the softest thing he'd sat on in weeks. He felt bad taking the bed, but, he really couldn't say no to that kind of an offer. He watched Fuu teeter from the fireplace over to the padded couch which sat beneath a small window by the front door. She leaned her head back against the wall and rubbed her temples. "I never know when to stop," she joked. "I'm gonna feel it in the morning… I can al- already tell.." Her words trailed off quietly, she sounded like she was already half-asleep.

"Shoulda known you'd turn out to be more of a drunk than Jin and I put together," he jeered good-naturedly. "It's always the ones that seem the most innocent."

He looked around the small house. There were few decorations, few belongings at all really. It barely looked like anyone lived here, except for the dishes stacked in the sink. "You uh.. you been living here a while?"

"Only about ermm.. three weeks I think," she muttered sleepily. "I don't really um, sta- stay long in one town…"

"Ah. So, I guess you really haven't changed much after all, girlie."

He waited for her retort, but he realized with a shock that she was snoring. The dumb bitch had fallen asleep still sitting up, her head slumped back against the wall. He considered just going to bed, but he'd probably (scratch that, definitely) get yelled at in the morning if he left her like that. So he climbed back off her bed and went over to her, intending to lay her out flat, give her a blanket or something. He scooped her legs up onto the end of the couch, ignoring the bare warm skin of her calves, letting her wooden sandals fall to the floor. He was trying to forget about the fact that he really _had_ wanted to fuck her badly before finding out his attractive mystery woman was Fuu, _Fuu _of all people. _Of all the people,_ he thought again incredulously, peering curiously at her sleeping face. He didn't waste any gentleness pulling her torso down into a more restful position. Her drunk ass wouldn't even feel it if he broke a bottle over her head.

There was a quilt hanging over the backside of the couch, so he yanked that down and threw it over her. _Can't say I never did nothin' for ya._ For some reason he was itching to say something else snarky to her, maybe out of pure habit, but it was no use if she wasn't awake to snap back. _No fun in a sleeping girl._ But after that thought he had to expel several dark thoughts of things that _could be fun _with sleeping girls.

_Ah, hell. _He wandered back across the room- threw his sword off by his bed, pulled his shirt up over his head, relished the relieving feeling of stretching his arms, stifled a massive yawn. Fuu stirred in her sleep and rolled over, causing the blanket to fall to the floor in a heap. "Ah, come on," he said out loud to no one.

He strode back over to her, wishing he'd stayed for a few more drinks at that bar. He wasn't feeling nearly as wasted as he liked to be around this time of night. For some reason seeing her hip curve against the clingy blue fabric, extra visible since she was on her side, made him angry. She wasn't supposed to catch his attention that way. She was irritation incarnate. So he picked up the patterned quilt and covered her inert body back up.

This time, her eyes fluttered open. When they fell on his face they widened it what seemed to be legitimate surprise. "Oh hi, Mugen," she whispered sleepily. "How did you find me here?"

"Oh, just passing through," he joked, knowing she was half dreaming and wholly drunk.

"Oh," she said, blinking rapidly, "You really are here, god I'm stupid.. I think I was dreaming for a sec!" A giggle escaped her parted lips, followed by a hiccup.

Mugen didn't really know what to say.

"You know," she said lazily, rolling on her back to face Mugen above her, "thanks for walking me home. Not every guy in this town is a stand-up citizen, if you catch my meaning."

He actually threw his head back and guffawed at that one. "Ha, are you implying that I _am_ a stand-up guy? Must be drunker than I thought."

Fuu glared at him through glassy eyes, seeming to come to her senses in her momentary anger at him. "No, you're no gentleman, _Mugen,"_ she said his name with a bite of venom that took him by surprise. "But I've met countless men worse than you. The lowest of the low. Real scumbags. Now I know you fawn after pretty girls and willing whores but you can't fool me into thinking you're a monster like some men are."

Mugen's jaw dropped. "Heavy words for someone who can't stop slurring everything they say. You can't be so sure I'm not some kind of monster. Come off it, you barely even _know_ me, bitch." He was aware that what she'd said to him had been her sort of compliment, but for some reason it angered him that she thought of him like that. That she wasn't even a _little_ bit scared of him. For fuck's sake, he was a scary sonofabitch!

Fuu didn't answer but her head fell off to the side, and he thought for a second that she'd passed out again. She hadn't. "I wouldn't have brought you back here if I didn't trust you, you should know that, idiot."

He scoffed. "You're too trusting if you ask me."

She just smiled in response. Her eyes were shut. In no time her breathing was steady again.

But Mugen lay awake in bed for what seemed like forever, staring up at the dark wooden ceiling. His irritation smoldered low in his mind and he couldn't quiet it well enough to fall asleep. His hand lay across his bare chest, his finger running absentmindedly over the long bumpy scar there. Sometimes he could still feel the pain of it late at night when everything else was quiet, simmering there like a haunting phantom memory. It was funny, really. Even when he truly thought he was dying he hadn't been scared, just pissed off as usual, ready to go down with his middle finger up at the world. Somebody ruined it though. He never got to stick up that finger.

His gaze roamed toward the sleeping girl, her chest rising and falling slowly in the dim moonlight leaking in from the window.

_Fuck._ He wasn't expecting to get blindsided like this. What was he even doing here? Maybe he should just get out of here before she woke up in the morning. Or before he did something stupid. What was it with her, anyway? If any other drunk girl was passed out in his room he couldn't say he'd be able to play the gentleman for long. He didn't know what it was about Fuu that commanded respect. Maybe it was simply because they had known each other so long. He rolled over to face the wall so he couldn't see her. Sleep was a long time coming, and eventually he fell into it slowly like he so often did, with a haze of broken memories coming on in a meaningless string. He fell asleep with the words _Don't kill him_ ringing in his ears.


	2. Old Habit

The next morning found Mugen about the town at an early hour, despite last night's insomnia. The sky was a light shade of blue, and sun was just peaking over the eastern mountain range. What he _really_ wanted was a good drink or six at the bar. Most of the town seemed to be up and at work already. When he arrived down at the main road he could see that this town wasn't completely cut off from civilization- there were a few carts coming and going on the southern road out of town, likely people trading between this town and the next one over. Most were modest, loaded with some sort of good or another. One carried large colored chests, another full or burlap sacks left a thin trail of rice behind it in the dirt.

He crossed toward the bar as a particularly luxurious cart rolled past him, pulled by heavily decorated white horses, vividly covered fabric hiding the individuals inside. Probably some mafia lord, just another rich guy wanting to show off his wealth. As they rolled passed he heard several men erupt in sudden laughter inside. _Wonder what they're doing in a poor, backwater town like this._

The bar, while still small and dull, proved to get him as drunk as any other. When he strode out the door again the sun was now hanging directly overhead, baking the dirt under his feet. Fuu would likely be angry with him when he returned, thinking he'd left unceremoniously without planning to return. He really had considered just taking off and not looking back, but his heart hadn't actually been behind that malicious thought. In the end he made his way back through town easily, feeling it would be much more pleasant to talk to Fuu through a thick curtain of fine mountain whiskey.

He scanned the house gardens first and the wide field, thinking maybe she was working already. You know, gardening shit. Those two old people from the bar were both out in the field, bending to and fro over short thick plants. He didn't see her there though. So he kept on up the path to her place, and it wasn't lost on him that the couple stared openly at him as he made his way there.

The handle didn't give when he turned it. Locked. He banged loudly on the door, and received no answer. Starting to lose patience, he scanned through the window in the semi-dark room, and couldn't see her on the couch, nor anywhere else. _The fuck._

Mugen ambled back down the path, starting to get rather pissed off. _The least she coulda done was left a fuckin' note. _"Hey!" he hollered at the old couple from the path outside their fence. "Yeah, you prunes," he added when they didn't answer, "Where's your gardener at?" They just continued to stare at him. He knew they could fucking hear him, they were only about twenty feet away. "I said, _where's your gardener at?_ What are you stupid? Her name's Fuu, she fuckin' works here."

The old couple looked at each other angrily, quickly offended into answering. "No," the man said gruffly. "No, she does not work here any longer."

"What do you-"

"No sir, you must leave our property now. She is not here anymore." The two went back to their work quickly, refusing to look at Mugen any longer.

_What the hell? Did that idiot get herself fired for being hung over at work?_ Now how the hell was he gonna find her? He reconsidered the possibility of just leaving and forgetting about this dumb broad, but now he was beginning to feel that guilty responsibility he hadn't had to deal with in a few years. Now he was more irritated at himself than at her, because he knew he was going to find her no matter how much he didn't feel like it.

This time he paid close attention as he meandered back through the streets in town, scanning every face. He stopped a mother walking with her child and described Fuu, but the mother seemed offended and walked on without answering.

"No, no, I do not know her," another man said hurriedly, before running away after some apparently urgent matter.

"What _is_ _it_ with you people?" he called out at the retreating back of the third person to straight up ignore his question. As he passed the bar he decided to go in there, see if maybe she'd been by there looking for him, which was possible.

The bartender wouldn't look him in the eyes as he questioned her.

"You remember me from last night, and you knew that girl I was talking to. Fuu. She lives here. Works as a gardener. She been by here today lookin' for me?"

The bartender glanced at him briefly, before busying herself cleaning off glassware with a torn grey rag. "I ain't seen her today," she said quietly. "Maybe she's back at home."

Mugen narrowed his eyes and leaned closely toward her, which had the desired effect because she squeaked a bit and took a step back. "Why ya so on edge, chick?"

The bartender just shook her head with wide eyes, as if to say she wasn't.

Mugen paused in his interregation to glance over his shoulder at the bar, and realized belatedly that everything had gone quiet. All the men, and the few women there, were staring at him expressionless.

"Alright," Mugen began curtly, turning to face the room at whole while cracking several knuckles against his left palm. "I'm only going to say this one _fucking_ time. There is only _one pretty girl_ in this godforsaken town, and one of you shady shitheads is going to tell me where I can find her. Her name is _Fuu, _and she's the only one who lives here who doesn't look like the wrong end of a cow."

Unsurprisingly, no one answered him, but several men lurched to their feet, one knocking over a half a glass of beer. The amber liquid spilled heavily onto the floor, the wet drip cutting through the tense silence like a scream. None were able to take more than two steps toward him before he had reached behind the bar counter to grasp the bartender's collar and slam her back and shoulders down on the counter, her head reeling sharply over the edge so that the bare skin of her neck was on full display for the patrons of the bar, so that they could see plain as day the glinting metal of his sword pressed against her skin as intimately as a necklace or a kiss. He relished the fleeting glint in the woman's eyes as she clawed weakly at his sword arm, that spark of adrenaline; he could feel it in his victims like the wolf senses the fear of a deer.

"Nobody come closer if you value this whore's pretty neck. Now, if somebody doesn't tell me what you sick fucks did with Fuu, _right goddamn now, _I am going to open up this bitch's throat, and then follow up with the rest of you fuckers."

"Go to hell, you fucking samurai," one of the men offered, spitting onto the ground in Mugen's direction. "No one knows this girl you speak of."

A growl rose from deep in his throat. Keeping his eyes on the small crowd around him, he leaned close to the bartender's ear. "If you wanna keep me from staining your sagging white skin a nasty shade of red, you better open your mouth and start talking, bitch. I'm not an idiot. What did they do with her?"

She blinked hard and several tears fell rapidly down her cheek. She gasped quietly when Mugen pricked her _ever so lighty_ with the edge of his bled, just to get her going. "No, no," she cried softly. "It was them, it's always them. They come and take our own women if we don't have someone to offer them. It's those two gardeners up the road, they hire women who come down out of the mountains, then turn them over. Please don't kill me, I had no part, I had no part!"

"_Who," _Mugen growled. "Who do they turn them over to?"

"The Rio family, they're from the town south of here! They run the wealthiest brothel south of the mountains... they say they always need new recruits, the sick bastards. So they come and they steal from us unless we give them someone else. It isn't our fault, it isn't, it isn't." The bartender broke into a straight sob at the end of her speech.

_Fuck. _Mugen took a moment of consideration. Then he pulled away from the bartender abruptly, letting her grasp her neck with both hands, gasping. The men around the room drew their hands into fists, but only a handful of them were armed. These people were below him, they were the dirt under his sandals. He didn't need full out slaughter and he didn't have time for it. So he broke for the door, shoving easily through the few people that tried to block his exit. One man drew a blade and slashed at him inexpertly. He dodged the blow and struck back fluidly, parting his forearm from his body so quickly that Mugen was out the front door before he began to shriek. People on the street openly stared at him, but no one pursued him from the bar. _Fuckin' pussies, _he thought viciously.

The town receded behind him with remarkable speed. But for all the speed he had in his legs, he knew it wasn't going to help much. He realized now the only business that would bring such a lavish and decorated horse-drawn cart to this lowly town. And if those people were riding in style and he was going on foot, who knew how far behind them he would arrive in town. He didn't even how far the town _was_.

As it happened, he didn't see city lights from the forest until the next night. He had been running for nearly two days, having fallen asleep for a few hours under a tree sometime before dawn that second morning. He slept like absolute shit, but shrugged it off. It wasn't because he was worried about her well-being. It was practically a given that he would easily procure her to safety, like plucking a piece of hay from a stack. Simple. After all, he'd saved this retard so many times before, so much so that this was an easy routine to fall back into. The thought that kept helping sleep elude him, though, was _Why? _ Why was he back in this figurative place, chasing after someone he'd been prepared to never see again? Why was he compelled to follow after her time and time again, when he'd never done so for anyone else?

_Debt, _he had told himself in the pale pre-dawn light. _You're indebted to her with your life. It's like, a samurai's honor or something._ Like they so often did, his fingers traced his chest scar subconsciously as he tossed in a subdued state between waking and sleeping. Half formed memories faded in and out of each other like waking dreams. Most memories containing Fuu involved either her or himself throwing insults, often melded together nonsensically. And yet, inexplicably, in every memory that held her, Fuu's face was bright and smiling.

When he saw the lights flickering through thinning trees, he immediately picked up his pace. This town was much bigger than the other, more sprawled out and teeming with life. But despite its size it only took one citizen to direct him towards the town's most highly-praised brothel, and when he arrived there he saw why its existence was common knowledge. It was easily the largest building in the district, towering over the surrounding shops like a mansion. It was several stories tall, with hanging roofs and balconies, scenes carved into the pillars and walls that proved to be erotic artwork when he got closer. Overall, it seemed like a place he could get comfortable in if he were here under different circumstances. _Ah, well. Maybe some other time._

Red carpeted steps led up to the massive front doors, both open wide. Several men drinking just inside the front door eyed him, passing over his sheathed sword in appraisal. He paid them no mind at all.

The long woven rug beneath him led to a large desk at the back of the wide open room, where a small filthy man greeted him. "What can I do for you, sir," he said in mock politeness. "We've got anything you're looking for, that is if you can pay." His eyes narrowed at the pouch hanging off Mugen's side.

Mugen chuckled good-naturedly. "Oh I can pay, old man. Don't you worry. But I ain't lookin' for just any old broad tonight."

The man raised his eyebrows questioningly.

Mugen continued, leaning onto the countertop, picking absentmindedly at his teeth. "You got any _virgins?"_

"We have a few, for a heavier price," the man admitted, smiling wickedly. _Gotcha._

"I can pay the price," Mugen assured him. "But I'm feelin'… I dunno, _wild_ tonight. I've had lots of virgins before. You got any.. fresh ones? Ones that ain't had time to you know, adjust to things yet?"

His meaning seemed to finally click with the man. "Ahh… We do have one very fresh shipment, only bee here a day. But usually the boss doesn't let them work till their third night, wants them to undergo a bit of _training_ first, see? You probably don't want that one yet…" he trailed off as Mugen emptied the contents of his money sack on the counter. The man's eyes scanned greedily over the gold.

"Keep the change, and show me to my room," Mugen said quietly.

The man did as he was told.

Mugen was brought up three flights of stairs and down a long hallway of identical purple doors. The man opened one with a fat bronze key and ushered Mugen inside, shutting the door behind him. The room had one plush bed and a table full of partly melted candles, all lit. There was a small barred window at the far end of the room. He relaxed on the bed, laughing to himself about how easy this was, and would continue to be. Plus, this padded bed was heavenly comfort after that night in the woods.

It was only a few short minutes before there was a loud knock on his door. He sat up abruptly as the door opened with a creak. There were a few sharp muffled words exchanged before a rough hand shoved a beautiful and unrecognizable girl into the room with him. Her skin was fully painted white, with thick colorful makeup painted around her eyes and on her lips. Her hair was done up in bright ribbons and flowers, prettier than Fuu ever wore it. She was dressed in a purple satin kimono which was obviously designed to make a woman pleasing to the eye, leaving most of her chest bare, with wide holes on the sides of stomach, and a high slit in the fabric that left most of her legs visible as well. Mugen blinked, taken aback, completely convinced he had found the wrong woman.

But the instant she registered him sitting there, her hands flew to her mouth to muffle a shocked word. "Oh my god, Mugen," she whispered, running forward and falling against him as he stood up from the bed. He hadn't expected that, of all things. "Mugen," she repeated, and he realized she was crying. "How did you possibly know I was here? Yesterday, I thought you'd left town already. I didn't think I'd see you again."

Mugen scoffed. "I didn't leave town. You must have such faith in me."

She didn't answer him, but continued to cry softly into his shirt. He didn't know what to do. So he rested his hand awkwardly on the back of her head, waiting for her to calm down, to be consoled. He _really_ liked the angle at which he could see her body in that outfit from here, so instead he looked away reluctantly toward the burning candles.

He cleared his throat. "Nobody uh.. touched you yet did they? Cause I need to know how many guys I gotta kill on the way out."

She look up at him, blinking through wet eyes. "Well, not.. really. I wasn't supposed to start _work_ for another day."

Something he hadn't known was clenched tight unclenched inside him. "Good," was all he said. "Now let's get out of here before our time's up and they come lookin'."

She nodded quickly, wiping away smudges of makeup when she rubbed at her tears. Mugen opened the door slowly, peeking his head out to see if anyone was in the hall. He was immediately greeted by a guard outside his door. _Fuck, this is a fancy brothel. They really wanna protect their property._

The guard turned to him in surprise, and was even more surprised when he felt Mugen's blade exit out the backside of his throat.

"Come on." He grabbed Fuu's arm and pulled her down the hall, but as they rounded the corner he was greeted by several other bedroom door guards that had been alerted by the other's sputtering dying groans. "Now _this_ is what I'm talking about," he snarled, shoving Fuu behind him against the wall. "Come at me, assholes!" They flew at him all at once. One man stabbed at Mugen's stomach but found his blade buried in the wall when Mugen dodged, and Mugen blocked another man's furious swipe while he ripped the blade from the wall and kill its owner with it. Two more men closed in on each side but he easily deflected their wild swings with his two swords, killing one with a vicious stomach laceration. The other attacker backed off and let the last guard go in for a strike, but the man hesitated at the last second and paid for it with his life. As Mugen drew his wet sword out of its latest victim's chest, the only remaining guard turned to run. But Mugen didn't need him raising any alarm. When Mugen threw blades he didn't aim in the traditional sense- he felt if the sword wanted to find its target, it would. And when he threw the blade he'd stolen from one guard, it stuck sickeningly into the back of the retreating man.

"Holy shit, Mugen," Fuu said squeakily from behind his back as the last man stumbled to his knees. _Was that fear in her voice?_

"What, you forgot what a demon I was with a sword?" He grinned at her over her shoulder, like a fox might bare his teeth to his prey. But Fuu didn't pale at his comment or his expression like most women would. She didn't even register that he was trying to frighten her._ Forget it._

They made their way quietly to the stairs, and didn't meet anyone else on the way down. If he'd played it right, no one would raise the alarm until someone found the bodies upstairs. But he wasn't surprised to find trouble down in the main hall. The same few men were milling around, clearly drunk off their asses. The stinking fat ass from behind the counter immediately noticed the two of them coming out of the stairwell. "Hey! Hey why is she out of your room?" he shouted, waving his finger at Fuu, who had frozen. His eyes fell on Mugen's outstretched sword, shimmering blood red in the flickering light, and he began to shout immediately. "Intruder! Intruder! _Intruder!"_

The men in the room hastily converged on him, all drawing swords. "I ain't got time for this shit," Mugen growled at them, knowing it wasn't long now till all hell broke lose. The first person to die was the fucking man at the counter, and that silenced his betraying shouts. Mugen managed to retrieve all his golden coins from the man's chest pocket before the first of the attackers was on him. He pushed away the tall man's blade, relishing the metallic sliding sound of steel on steel. He slashed back once, twice, five times, so quickly the man couldn't keep up with his blade. He disarmed him just as the second man was arriving at the fight, with only seconds having passed since Mugen killed the first fat man. He cut down both men easily, crippling their sword arms for life and leaving them both writhing on the floor. Mugen pulled Fuu down the carpet toward the front door, getting between the rest of the attackers and the exit. The last three men made sure they all came at him at once, but that didn't save any of them. Mugen caught one by the arm as he swung his sword down from above, and drown the man's own sword through his comrades chest, while still parrying the attacks of the third man. He slashed the man's sword hand and he fell to the floor sobbing, begging for mercy while the remaining attacker tried to remove his sword from his friend's back. Mugen looked down on them with the disgust he usually reserved for bedbugs and roaches, before killing them both.

After that he and Fuu walked down the front steps away from the building very slowly, holding Fuu as close to his side as space would allow. He scanned the bustling night crowd, looking for signs of pursuit.

"Should we run?" Fuu asked quietly, her head flitting from side to side.

"Not until we're around the corner," he said. "Don't look around like that, you look so suspicious."

"_Hey! Heyy! Stop them!" _His head snapped around despite himself, and he realized dozens of men were pouring out of the brothel into the street.

"Time's up," he said, breaking into a full sprint with Fuu hanging desperately onto his hand as she tried to keep up. They could hear angry shouts not too far behind them, and could see people shoving through the crowds if they looked back. Mugen ducked down side streets and around corners, barreling between two carts laden with fruit that blocked the end of one street. The owners yelled furiously as round apples rolled away down the street, but the two had already turned down another alleyway. Mugen could hear Fuu gasping raggedly behind him, and slowed for a moment to peek around the corner behind them, scanning for any guards. He could hear them shouting but couldn't see them.

Fuu clutched her sides and drew breath in strained gulps. "Hey, you okay?" he said, pulling her around the next corner.

"I'm, I'm fine," she gasped.

They made it to the edge of town without incident, though several locals stared at them oddly as they strolled openly into the forest. They'd surely remember this if questioned by guards. _Shit._

So they jogged hastily through the forest, not following the path. Mugen told her they'd have to get far away if they wanted to sleep without fear of being found by a search party. They might not care too much about losing one broad, but Mugen had really left quite a mess behind them and the brothel was not likely to forgive that. So they walked on.


	3. The Piece that Wouldn't Fit

Last chapter! Please review if you enjoyed it :)

(P.S. If I get really bored with life I'll make a sequel to this...)

* * *

They walked for an hour, two hours, three.

She kept falling behind him. She'd be right up close and then he'd turn around and she would have stopped twenty feet back, standing there clutching her sides. The fourth time it happened, Mugen stopped walking. "Hey, you let yourself get outta shape or somethin'?" he called back. "You forget how to walk long distance without wheezing to death?"

Fuu let her arms fall from her sides quickly, and hurried to catch up to him, not stopping where he was but continuing on, waiting for him to follow. "No, I'm really fine," she said, but one of her arms snaked its way back around her waist.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Now hold up," he said, feeling the growl rise up in his throat again. Mugen grabbed her shoulder from behind to stop her, and was surprised when she cried out in pain. "What the hell-" Before she could stop him he pulled the fabric down off her shoulder. Under the white paint on her shoulder a fresh cut was plainly visible, with smudges of red mixing into the white to make a sickening pink line. "I thought you said they didn't _touch you_ yet-"

"They didn't, not really. One of them.. used a whip. They do it to all the new girls." She didn't try to cover her shoulder back up.

Mugen felt like a molten rock had settled in his stomach. He didn't know if he wanted to see what the rest of her body looked like. "Why didn't you fuckin' say something?" he snapped. "You can't go running long distances with those kinds of injuries. Do you have a death wish?" _Good thing she didn't mention this back at the brothel or I might have tried to burn the whole damn building down with everyone inside._

"I'm really fine!" she protested.

"Oh no," he snarled. "Don't you start. God damn you can be stupid sometimes. We'd better find somewhere to start a fire. You look like you're about to pass out."

Ignoring her outraged protests, he hoisted her over her shoulder and began to follow the steady slope farther up onto the mountainside. It was bad enough he made her run for miles, he wasn't gonna let her struggle up the mountainside and bleed to death. After a while Fuu eventually stopped struggling to get down. The mossy dirt under his feet began to give way more often to hefty boulders and layers of rock. Fuu had grown quiet, but every so often she would ask him to stop and pick a thick-leaved plant growing alongside the base of some trees. She said it was for treating wounds- killing bacteria or something like that. Well, good thing she had her wits about her then because he didn't know jack shit about treating wounds. He usually just wrapped his in bandages and forgot them till they healed. Eventually in the pale starlight he spied a dark opening in the side of a massive boulder. When he struck a match at the entrance he saw it was rather deep. So he left Fuu there for a few minutes and came back with his arms full of fallen branches.

While he kindled the fire, she was gingerly pulling apart the stems and leaves of the small plants he'd gathered. She was avoiding looking at him, for good reason. He was glaring at her. With what intention, he wasn't entirely sure. He watched with curiosity as she ground the leaves to mash with a small rock, and used Mugen's water to turn it into a kind of green leafy paste. When she was done, she turned away from him with predictable shyness.

"Mugen," she said quietly, "I need your help to put this on my cuts."

"Yeah, sure whatever," he agreed, scooting over toward her.

"If you'll spread it on my back, I'll do the other side," she said, and he could actually see the blush blooming on her face, where she had wiped the makeup away as they walked.

"Yeah alright," he agreed casually.

She turned fully away from him, pulling the purple fabric from her shoulders and letting it pool around her waist on the rock floor. Mugen bit his lip to keep from swearing. Under matted white body paint there were three large slashes welling angrily across her bare back.

"I uh, probably need to get this paint off first," he said, unsure what else to say.

Without responding, Fuu upended Mugen's water canteen over her shoulders, letting it run down her back and her chest. Mugen cast about for something to use that wasn't his bare hands (though he kinda wanted to use those) but ending up using his red own shirt to wipe away the running paint, which came off rather easily. He focused hard on what he was doing, attempting not to imagine what Fuu's hands were doing on the other side, delicately cleaning off her stomach, her breasts-

Breathing deeply he started applying the green paste across the long marks on her glistening skin. He tried not to think about how the water drops looked like sweat in the firelight, definitely wouldn't think about how he wished he was sweating too, that they were both sweating-

"Mugen, I'm trying to figure out how you found me." She sliced through his dirty thoughts effectively. "In the brothel… what did you say to them? Did you ask for me by name? I never told them my name…"

Mugen chuckled under his breath. "You wanna know? Fine. I walked right up to the front desk and I asked for the best virgin they had."

"You're not serious."

"Oh, I'm dead serious." He savored the blush on her cheeks that just kept getting brighter and brighter. She was so easy to embarrass, it was almost no fun.

She seemed to realize he was looking at her face and turned slightly farther away from him so he could see less. "I don't understand, I never told them I was a virgin. I never told _you_ I was a virgin, you pervert!"

"Oh come off it," Mugen snorted. "You don't have to hear a girl _say so _to know she's a virgin. I can tell from half a mile away whether I'm looking at a virgin or not."

"You ass, you're lying through your teeth. You can't just _tell_ like that. You don't know if I'm a virgin, you barely even know me at all! I haven't even seen for like four years you know. _Anything_ can happen in four years."

"Yeah, anything _could_ happen." She seemed smug until he added, "But it didn't. There's a fine distinction between virgins and other women. The virgins, they walk around like they got somethin' to hide. Arms crossed over their chest, legs crossed when they sit, their eyes dart around down streets like they're always expecting to be somebody's prey. Once a woman _loses_ it though, she ain't got nothing to hide anymore. You can see it the way she walks, hear it in her voice. Those guys probably smelled the virginity on you as strong as the booze that was on your breath."

Fuu was apparently shocked into silence. "I knew it," he snickered. She still didn't answer though. Her silence was prolonged this time, and her head lilted downward as she finished applying the green paste to cuts on her chest. He followed suit, wondering if he really had offended her beyond repair this time. After he was done, a few more minutes passed in silence, the only sound that of the low crackling fire.

"Um, you probably don't wanna hear this," he started, "but you can't put that kimono back on until this shit dries. Otherwise the fabric's going to glue itself to that sticky stuff, and you'll have to rip it off your scabs. Won't be pleasant."

"I'll just wait till it all dries then," she said emotionlessly. "I don't care. I know you've been peeking at my chest this whole time anyway."

_She's just trying to get under my skin. No way she saw me looking. I was so sneaky, all twenty times._

Mugen was taken further aback when she picked herself up and went over to sit facing the fire. She didn't seem to care at all that he could see her whole naked upper body now. "When you and Jin left," she said, "I walked away with my head held high. But in truth I was terrified."

Mugen just stared at her, waiting for her to continue.

She obliged. "I didn't know what I was supposed to do. You guys helped me achieve the only life goal I had. So I just started wandering. I would get to a town and find a job, get comfortable. But sooner or later I would realize that there wasn't anything for me there, and I would move on. I must have lived in a hundred towns in my life." She giggled softly. "To be honest, I was sure I'd meet you somewhere eventually. I've seen Jin twice since we parted, he said he was checking up on my wellbeing. I thought it was really sweet of him." She glanced at Mugen, who must have had a pretty shocked expression on his face. "You're probably wondering why I'm saying all this," she continued. "Well, I think the reason I kept moving on from town to town to town is that I kept on waiting for something to happen, something new."

Mugen still stared blankly. He had no _idea_ what she was going on about. One moment she's solemn and sad and the next she's spouting her life story. This girl was so hard to keep up with.

"My point is that, while this whole ordeal was terrible, it doesn't _feel _terrible. It feels like something has finally happened… Mugen, come over by the fire," she added quietly. He almost thought he was hallucinating because he was sure she batted her eyelashes at him in the same way some girls beckon him from across the room. He was wary, but he went over and sat by her, trying _really hard,_ and mostly failing, to not stare at her bare chest. God _damn_ was that difficult.

"Why did you come here to rescue me?" she asked, looking him right in the eyes.

"What kind of question is that?" he retorted, unsure what to actually say.

"I want a real answer," she prodded. "You don't have any obligation to me. So why'd you come?"

"You want the truth?" Her face said yes. He regretted his answer before the words even left his mouth. "I uh… I felt like I owed you. You know."

Her expression quickly turned to bewilderment. "What for?"

Was she serious? He scowled, unwilling to admit the memory that wouldn't leave him alone and haunted him in the silent hours of the night. Did she not even remember, or what?

"_Mugen," _she pressed, "tell me what you think you owe me for."

"For this, _stupid,"_ he snarled, lifting his white undershirt to show her the pale jagged scar that reached across his chest. "Or don't you remember?" He had painful, foggy memories of drifting in and out of seering pain, interspersed with the soft touch of two cold hands touching and trying to mend his ragged flesh.

Fuu looked at his scar, not understanding. "I remember sewing this nasty thing back together," she admitted quietly, touching the end of his scar lightly and sending goosebumps racing down his arm. "Why would you owe me for that?" she said incredulously. She still didn't get it.

_Don't kill him_ he heard, echoing from some dark recess in his mind. _No, don't kill him. _He had heard it over the roar of his blood in his ears, over the white hot feeling of iron being smelted inside his body, over the dying laughter sounding inside his own head that was cackling through the pain saying _I was right, and now I'm going to die_.

But he hadn't been right. He'd been wrong. The laughing voice in his head was an illusion, and what was real were the words _No, don't kill him, _and she had lain down between his body and his killer, and at the time he was half convinced this was all a mistake and he had already died.

"When the blind samurai and I were fighting, she told me something I already knew was true. That no one in this world gives a flying fuck. We live in a madhouse, that's for damn sure. I lived my whole life in that madhouse, I based all I knew on the fact that we're all just floating around and no one gives a damn what anyone else is doing. I _live_ in that madness. I fight by channeling that madness. I thought I had it all figured out. I knew I'd just keep floating around until finally someday someone else's madness caught up with me, and I would die face down in the mud somewhere, and nobody would bat a fucking eye. World would keep turnin'. It's just the way it goes."

Fuu looked horrified, so he didn't wait for her to butt in before continuing. "So there I was, flat on my back in the mud, thinkin' _Yeah,I fucking knew it._ The world didn't give two shits whether I lived or died. I wasn't nothin' and I never was. I thought it was funny how some people thought they were special, thought they'd be remembered once their bones were rotted. Tough luck. The world was just a crazy puzzle and we were all just pieces making random patterns out of chaos. But then you fucking show up and _ruin it._"

Fuu jumped back an inch, clearly startled.

"I had it all figured out, but now I just… I can't fit you in with the pattern, you stupid bitch. It doesn't make any sense. I should have been right and I should have died alone and laughing. You should have _let_ me die. _What did you do it for?_ _What?" _he snarled, more harshly than he meant to. The tears in her eyes made him angry. What was she upset for? Then, to his complete surprise, she laid her hand gently on his cheek. He was too stunned to retort or shove her away.

"Oh, Mugen," she said softly. "Only you could ask such a stupid question." She turned away again and let her hand fall away from him, clinging to her other hand on her lap. "I can't convince you that you're worth saving. Only you can do that."

He felt like she had punched the rising anger out of him, deflating it as easily as a balloon.

"I was worried when we all left each other for the last time," she said, switching gears. She could switch gears so quickly, it left him in the dust. "Worried that I was just another face that would be gone out of your lives forever, like everyone you had ever met. But when I got a ways down the road, something struck me, and I turned to look back at you guys. And you know what- I found you both looking back at me.

God Mugen, you're so stupid, you know that? If you would just stop and think for one second it wouldn't be such a god damn mystery why I needed to save you. And maybe I don't fit into your chaotic _pattern. _Or here's a wild idea, maybe your pattern is just wrong." She gingerly poked at the drying green clumps on her chest and her finger didn't come away wet, so she shrugged back into her skimpy brothel kimono. He didn't stop her when she went to lay on the sloping rock at the back of cave, away from the warmth of the fire.

After what felt like forever the fire burned itself down to red hot coals, hissing in the dim cave. Neither of them had spoken in what seemed like hours.

Sure she was asleep, Mugen quietly stepped over the rock with bare feet, reclining with his back leaning comfortably against the steep slope of the cave wall. It was harder than the forest floor, but for some reason the angling slope made him feel like he was leaning back into a nice wooden chair.

"You didn't really want to die," Fuu said. She was obviously not sleeping. It wasn't a question, she just stated it matter-of-factly.

"No," he admitted in annoyance. "I didn't _want_ to die. But I lived my whole life on the assumption that when my time came to die, there wasn't gonna be anyone there to stop it or to care. You threw my whole world into skew, Fuu."

"I see," she said softly. "I do. No one has ever loved you before," she said, in a forlorn voice.

Mugen chuckled. "You know, that's just exactly what the blind samurai said to me."

"You know, maybe us women can smell it on you the way you men can smell our virginity," she sneered.

He shrugged, past caring at this point.

She laughed in derision, and winced in pain. "Ow," she muttered. "_Ow."_

"What?"

"It's this stupid hard surface, it doesn't feel good to lay on at all. I feel like someone is jabbing tiny rocks at all my cuts no matter which way I roll over."

"You can share my bed," he joked, motioning around him at his identical bed of rock.

"Very funny," she said, glaring. "But you know, would it really be okay if I leaned up against you? I think it would a lot less painful."

"Yeah, yeah," he answered, "I can tell how hard it is for you to keep your hands to yourself over there, not since you caught sight of my _rocking muscles." _He lifted his shirt again and flexed, feeling the tension lighten tangibly in the cave as she rolled her eyes, knowing he was joking. "Comere," he said gruffly, beckoning her closer. She made to lean against the edge of his shoulder but, he pulled her all the way onto his lap. Fuu began to protest, blushing furiously, but he shushed her. "Oh calm down. Trust me, you'll be way more comfortable this way. He let her settle in between his legs, so that her back was laying flat against his chest, the back of her head resting in the crook of his shoulder.

"I don't know that I've ever said this, but you are so right," she muttered enthusiastically. "I am so much more comfortable than I was before."

"Yeah, just enjoy it, chick. Because _my_ back is leaning against a boulder, just so you know."

Two eyes peered up at him. "I know. Thanks Mugen. For… everything."

He shrugged. "You know, I've been thinkin.' How much of a troublemaker you are. Now don't start, just let me finish, okay? I don't know if I feel okay letting you wander off to another city by yourself to make more trouble. Then it's my ass that's responsible when you get yourself killed, or sold, or what have you. I don't think I feel like dealing with the wrath of Jin if he found out I just let you go off alone like that, especially after this."

It was hard to concentrate on what he was saying to her because every time she took a breath her chest would heave and fall again, and god it was maddening. He wondered if she was exaggerating her breaths on purpose.

"So um, I was thinking you could just tag along after me for a while," he continued. "It's not like I'm going anywhere special, but at least it's somewhere. You can leave whenever you want, as long as you let me teach you how to use a sword first."

"A _sword?" _she asked incredulously.

"I'm serious," he persisted. "It won't be easy, but I'm not letting you go wandering around the forests and mountains anymore without knowing how to fuckin' protect yourself. Just stick around with me long enough to learn how to wield a blade, then you can go your own way. That's all I'm askin'."

"You really think I could learn?" she asked dubiously.

"Well, you're the biggest clutz I've ever met, but I can teach you things that'll put you far ahead most other samurai. It'll probably take a damn long time, though."

"Hmm," she raised one eyebrow at him, as if appraising his motives before deciding. "You know, I accept. Although I probably won't be able to start until these cuts heal up a bit."

Mugen's eyes drifted away from the low cut of her kimono and toward one of the leaf-covered lashes which went up her left breast, onto her clavicle. He found his finger lightly tracing it upwards like he so often did to his own scar, coming to rest on her clavicle bone. To his surprise, goosebumps blossomed on her skin where his finger touched. "Ya know," he said quietly, "you're going to have scars from this. Not trying to upset you, but you should know. Cuts this deep never go away completely."

"I don't care," she said plainly. "Scars are a part of being human. Besides, you have more scars than anyone I've ever met in my life."

"I know," he laughed, "It's just that your body was so…"

"So _what?"_

"So perfect? But some women think a scar makes them look tarnished. But me, I think I side with you on that one. If I turned away every woman with a gnarly scar, I'd never get laid. Ha, you know, there are women who would commit crimes you couldn't even imagine if it got them a body like yours, Fuu. Oh stop blushing, you know it's true, I can see it on your face. You've seen the way men go mad over you."

He suddenly realized he was still tracing the along the edge of her cut with his finger, not on it but just to the side, up and down from the edge of the fabric near her breast up to the cleft of her clavicle. He stopped abruptly. "Is this okay?" he asked in the silence.

"Yeah, Mugen. It's okay."

So he let his fingers wander again, tracing her arm up and down. They seemed so small. He felt her shiver suddenly, although it wasn't cold in their cave. So he did the only thing he could think to do, and pressed his face into the side of her neck, leaving a kiss there, and another. Even now he wouldn't admit to himself how badly he wanted her, then and there, how perfect and surreal she looked in the dark red light of dying embers. She didn't seem offended by his touch at all, like he'd expected. He'd imagined kissing her half a billion times, and many more explicit things, but he never guessed that when he actually _did_ kiss her, she would turn around and kiss him back. But she did. She lifted her face up to his and hesitated with half-parted lips, before gently pressing them against his.

They fell asleep long after the coals had died away, leaving them in the chilly damp darkness of the cave. Mugen fell asleep easily for once, drifting into the dark without hazy troubling memories slipping in and out of his consciousness, without feeling the white hot pain he sometimes felt- instead dreams came softly like the warmth of something wrapped tightly in his arms.


End file.
